A Muslim woman's surprising find on Temple Mount

'This was the entrance to the Second Jewish Temple that was here before Al Aqsa'

Published: 08/02/2013 at 11:52 PM

(Times of Israel) After offering prayers in the Dome’s inner sanctum, Ibrahim, my guide, led me up the steps.

We were careful not to bang our heads on the low ceiling. Turning around at the top, Ibrahim pointed to the glass-enclosed roof of the cave, the Rock, showing me it remained intact. All I saw was a mass of electrical wiring.

The sanctity of the stone was lost amid a spaghetti of cables and energy-saving bulbs. I paused to snap the fractured blue tiles bearing the Shahadah, quickly moving on with diminishing hopes of capturing some architectural beauty.

Upstairs, a maze of scaffolding interrupted the crude fans discrediting every edifice – so many barnacles pock-marking a long sunken ship.